Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Five

Leaving most of her items behind, Alex left the Pegasus to venture outside. She exited through the rear of the ship and stood atop a large ramp, which lead down to the forest floor. The bright sun forced her eyes to squint as she adjusted to the light. Alex extinguished the flame on her torch, then peeled off the rag with her foot. She still wanted to hang onto the stick and use it as a walking aid through the jungle. Under her flowing cape, she held a long piece of metal and some thin rope.

Walking down the ramp, Alex stepped onto the spongy forest floor. About twenty feet from the craft, Alex spotted a large rock embedded in the dirt. It was exactly what she needed to sharpen the metal into a blade. She walked over and knelt down next to it, while remaining mindful of her surroundings.

The metal was a perfect shape and size to make a machete. It even tapered slightly at the end, allowing her to carefully wrap the thin rope around and around to make a handle. Once she finished the handle, she spent the next hour meticulously running the metal back and forth on the rock until the edge was thin and sharp. Every so often, Alex would stop, wipe the sweat from her brow, and check the sharpness. She took her time and in the end, it paid off. The machete was razor sharp and had a long enough handle where she could grip it with both hands if she needed.

The hard work prompted her stomach to growl intensely. It reminded her she hadn't eaten anything in a very long time. She wanted to save the beef stew packet for a time when she was truly desperate. She felt she wasn't there yet and still had enough energy to search the land and look for some wild fruit or vegetables.

Rising to her feet, Alex gripped her newly made machete and practiced some manoeuvers. Twirling it around and performing some mock chops gave her an idea of the weight and balance. It wasn't perfect, but she was definitely pleased with her work.

After looking around in all directions, she determined which way she should explore first. With the blade in one hand and her walking stick in the other, Alex set off. She made quick use of the machete by hacking through the dense brush to carve a path. Her arm was still sore, but astonishingly it was nearly eighty percent healed. She figured by tomorrow, it may be close to being fully recovered. This gave her a new appreciation for the eternity hack, which was the cause of her rapid healing. She also had the immune booster, and between the two, they were keeping her body in an optimal condition — a definite advantage given her current situation.

Much like the dense Amazon, the jungle was comprised of a vast array of diverse lifeforms and species of plants. The trees, with their various shades of purple leaves, towered over her and were larger than any she had seen before. In fact, everything seemed to be much bigger. She then recalled the large ape-like creature that had attacked her. It was at least ten feet tall by her estimate. She hoped she wouldn't encounter anything like that again. Even with her machete, it would be unlikely that she would survive another attack.

As she became deeper in the brush, she was especially interested in observing the plants and insects that she came across. The plants were perhaps the most incredible things she had seen, aside from the moon. Once she became more immersed in the jungle, she could tell she was on another planet. All the plants were very different than the ones she was used to. Exotic patterns and colour combinations were only part of what made them spectacular — the sheer size of some of them made her feel like she was miniature or among a planet of giants. Large plants sprouted from the ground and stretched toward the sky, competing for the sunlight. Their thick stocks supported the leafy appendages, some large enough to cloak a small automobile.

This planet had spiders too, but they only had six legs instead of eight and were the size of dinner plates. Ant-like critters the size of pill bottles marched in rows, and six-winged butterflies fluttered in the breeze. Everything was similar enough, just with a slight evolutionary variation. She had yet to see any animals aside from a few birds. Her mouth salivated at the thought of somehow catching something to eat. Perhaps if she became desperate enough, she could make a meal from the insects, which were in abundance. If she had to go that route though, she figured the safest bet would be to stay away from anything with bright colours, stripes, or spots. Those were the typical indicators of poisonous creatures on Earth; however, on this planet, the opposite could be true.

Alex got to a clearing and looked behind at the path she had carved. She hadn't gone very far, but could no longer see the ship. As her survival lessons had taught her, she made sure to look back every so often and establish visual markers so she would recognize her way back. Her sweat-drenched clothing worried her as she recalled the phrase 'you sweat, you die' from her lessons. Sweating was a huge liability in survival situations since it makes retaining body heat at night nearly impossible. The nights were cold enough without having an internal hindrance. Despite this knowledge, there was nothing she could do. The work was too demanding and the humidity was too unforgiving.

Through panting breaths and a dry mouth, she wished she would find a water source soon. Directly above her, a flock of birds flew by. As it was sometimes the case, birds have a tendency to fly toward rivers and lakes. On a hunch, she decided to follow them.

A fog set in, blanketing the forest floor and making the strange new world appear even more ominous. Alex found a fallen tree and walked along it to give her a slightly elevated vantage point from which she could see beyond the fog and dense shrubbery.

The trek lasted all morning, and by noon, she was exhausted and hungry. Fortunately, Alex heard running water in the distance. It reminded her of the time when she was similarly searching for fresh water on the island off Thailand. Of course, she was assuming that the water on this planet was safe to drink. For all she knew, it could kill her.

When Alex saw the stream, she nearly cried. After hours of hiking in a random direction, it was a huge payoff. She stumbled up to the stream with a cottonmouth and collapsed on the sandy river bank. Plunging both hands into the water, she scooped up the liquid and slurped it like it was her last opportunity to drink. The cold water coated her throat and cooled her body. After being deprived of liquid for so long, it was incredibly satisfying to fill her belly with the cold water. It tasted the same as water and seemed clean. She just hoped her advanced healing abilities would protect her from any parasites that may exist in the water.